Julie Edwards Designs is a graphic design studio located in Oakland, California. This blog was created to showcase my work as well as anything that makes me happy and inspired. Please feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email. I'd love to hear from you!

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ELSEWHERE

I’ve shared a couple before pictures of my office and am now happy to say that my work space is no longer empty and lifeless! With only two weeks to pull my room together, I worked with Crystal Palecek, the Editor-in-Chief of Rue Magazine, to makeover my office for a contest by Loloi Rugs.

The only furniture I originally had in my office was a new standing desk and a vintage cabinet I recently painted black. Crystal came up with the idea to use two Palecek Vero barstools which I couldn’t be more in love with! She also chose the swim print from Minted’s limited edition collection and the gorgeous Tom Dixon hanging light fixture from Horn. To tie it all together, I chose the Granite rug from the Anastasia collection which immediately added some much needed warmth to the space. I couldn’t be more thrilled with how it turned out (thank you Crystal)! More photos and Crystal’s explanation about the makeover can be found on Rue Daily.

I’m back from vacation and ready to get down to business! But first, I thought I’d share a few photos and offer some travel advice based on some of things I did. Below are the highlights!

BAY AREA
• Had the pleasure of paddling a kayak in complete darkness while the water sparkled all around me on this Bioluminescence Tour in Point Reyes!
• We splurged on an amazing meal at Bar Tartine — try it, you won’t regret it!
• Spent an afternoon picnicking with friends at the Stern Grove Music Festival.

WASHINGTON
• We pretty much skipped Seattle and instead headed straight to Anacortes to visit family.
• I couldn’t ask for better views on the ferry ride from Anacortes to Friday Harbor!
• Had the best lavender ice cream while checking out the lavender fields on San Juan Island.
• We got schooled on the history of the American and English camps on San Juan Island.

It is nearly impossible to find a good looking standing desk! I looked high and low and finally came across a post by Meg Biram featuring a pub table converted into a desk—genius! Now that it’s in my space I’m trying to figure out how to work it in with the rest of my belongings. As you can see from the second photo, this thing is massive and most of my furniture (including my old desk on the right) seem totally out of scale with this behemoth! I’m having trouble parting with my old desk (I’ve had it my entire life), so I’m trying to make it all work together. I think if I add some large pieces of art and lots of plants, it should look great. So, off I go to search for art, plants and rugs!

For those of you who are wondering, I LOVE standing while I work. I was beginning to feel pretty achy from sitting so much and standing has helped alleviate all my aches and pains. Plus, I like to tell myself I’m burning lots of calories!

I certainly feel like I live a very full life. And by full, I mean a very busy work life. In some ways I like keeping busy, however, when something fun like making pickled carrots has been on my to-do list for over a year, (not to mention I have a to-do list entitled “fun” with only two things on it) I decided to take an afternoon off to do a few of the things I’ve been dying to do — make pickled carrots and dust off my camera to photograph the process. Taking an afternoon to do this on a whim felt exhilarating. It left me feeling inspired, recharged and excited to get back to work. It also made me realize that in order to stay inspired, I need to take breaks, explore other creative outlets and most importantly have fun! Feeling like you could use an inspiration boost? Start by trying a few of these ideas.

I am so incredibly honored to have been asked to feature my five favorite Oakland stores for Rue Magazine’s April 1st issue! I’ve been living in Oakland for a little over a year and while the transition hasn’t always been easy (I get really homesick), I am falling in love with Oakland’s laid back vibe, amazing people, and diverse offerings of independently owned stores — many of which are within walking distance from my apartment! If you haven’t seen the article, it can be found here and if you haven’t ever been to Oakland, come for a visit! Thanks so much to Rue Magazine for this opportunity! Thanks also to the talented photographer, Angie Silvy, and five stores (Issues, Good Stock, Neighbor, Crimson and Esqueleto)!

I’ve mentioned this before, but I LOVE to travel so I thought it was fitting to put together a little must-have list when traveling during the winter. For the full story and links to the above items, be sure to head on over to Rue Magazine! Have any other items you think are essential for winter travel?

The one thing I love about freelancing is having the opportunity to work on a variety of projects. Especially since I’m pretty sure I would go insane doing the same exact tasks day after day! With that said, I try to create a workflow that offers diversity and new challenges with every project. This means I often find myself bouncing between minor illustration work, surface prints and patterns for apparel, to layouts for printed pieces such as posters and brochures. I love the mix and am so thankful to each and every one of my clients! I’m especially excited at my newest working relationship with Rue magazine and couldn’t be more thrilled about combining my love for interiors and fashion into my weekly graphic design work! An example of a couple of spreads I’ve done for them can be found here and here. The Rue team is a dream to work with and I couldn’t be more excited to be an official member! The next issue is coming to digital stands this week so be on the lookout—it’s gonna be a good one!

Since moving I haven’t really had a break in my schedule to think about my living or work space—until now! Although I haven’t actually started working on my office yet (I’m currently working on my kitchen), it’s definitely on my mind! So, here are a few items that April (my sourcing guru and sidekick) and I found that would be fun in a newly decorated work space. I think number five is my favorite. I miss the simplicity of flipping one switch to turn on the news or listen to the radio. So, the am/fm radio and mp3 player is right up my alley. How about you? Which is your favorite?